Grandmother's Fan

This is an interim update on THIS project! I have been working on this quilt since 1995. At that time, I thought I needed to totally piece a quilt by hand to appreciate the work and skill women used to create quilts before fancy sewing machines and templates. I cut the fan pieces individually by hand using scrap paper for piecing. (I actually used those pesky advertising inserts found in magazines - they were a little heavier weight and very easy to come by!) I then joined the fans together by hand and appliqued them to the yellow blocks by hand. For the sake of sturdy construction, I did put the blocks together by machine. I am now in the process of hand quilting the project. This quilt easily covers a king size bed! I have a lot of hand stitching to finish.

Sparrow Scrapper's Weekend

Once again, Sparrow Scrappers invaded the Holiday Inn Express in Okemos for a weekend of scrapbooking, cardmaking, laughing, talking and tequila. The amount of stuff hauled into the hotel to support these habits is incredible! The atmosphere was one of creativity, comraderie and excellent food. Rather than "buying out," and taking time away from the fun, everyone brings something. Wendy brought the best potato salad I've every had; Joan brought Irish potato -cabbage soup---including the option to add corn beef; Lisa brought cornbeef sandwich fixings. There was also chili, cornbread, and gads of wonderful salads. I can't forget the homemade sugar cookies, brownies, lemon bars and rice crispy treat! I didn't stay at the hotel like most people did-it's too close to home. It's a lot of fun - there are sister, mothers-daughters, cousins and friends getting together to do what they enjoy most.

Friday, March 13, 2009 Ready for the Outdoors!

President's Quilt

The outgoing president of the guild gets a quilt. It's a great tradition. At the end of her term, the president chooses a quilt pattern and each member of the guild makes one block for the quilt. This year, the president chose log cabin blocks in shades of blue, green or brown. Since I had some left over pieces of brown, I used that.

It seems like an easy way to get a quilt, right? Just like at work and home, the range of quality, commitment and ability to follow directions spans a great deal of territory. The perfect quarter inch seam is very important. For those who don't pay attention, that 1/8 " spread over 5-6 blocks can sure create an uneven quilt.

Foundation Piecing: On Eagle's Wing

I recently started a paper-pieced batik quilt that has been frustrating. The most frustrating part is that in paper-piecing, the stitching is opposite the pattern lines. Today, through the LAP Guild, I attended a class taught by Eydta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts. Eydta designs her own patterns and the most beautiful batik fabrics sold as part of the Moda line. While the technique she taught uses paper templates, the technique, foundation piecing, is much more enjoyable. The class project was a table runner. Rather than a table runner, I will use my squares as the inner blocks for a quilt. The pattern would be a very nice one to scrap. (Double-click photo to see close-up of projects and stitching.)

It's Spring!

It reached 60+ degrees today. Daylight savings time springs forward this weekend. The snow and ice are gone. The crocuses have sprouted. It sure looks like spring!

Noel Loves Dinosaurs

Yesterday when the mailman came, Noel received a colorful dinosaur placemat from my sister. He is very interested in dinosaurs right now. His favorite is one he calls the "longneck." He wanted one of the "longnecks" on his shirt for school. We looked through my embroidery patterns and found this one - with "longnecks" and pre-historic birds. He picked out the thread colors and helped cut the color-change stitches. It was a great project for us to work on together!

(double click on picture to see detail of the embroidery)

2009 LAP Challenge

The 2009 Lap Challenge has the following rules:
- small
- colors you don't usually use
- piecing that creates a challenge
- includes a picture
- embellishments
- leaves
-decorative stitches
- fun to make

(double click on picture to see detail)